Reversal of Fortune
Chp. 2
Disclaimer: No Copyright Infringement intended. The Missing characters do not belong to me. I don't own them. At all.
Back at the office, Nicole, Jess, and Antonio were trying to interpret Jess' vision.
"I'm not who they think I am?" Antonio asked after Jess told him the vision.
"Yeah." Jess confirmed. "I was thinking that whoever kidnapped her mistook her for someone else."
"Could be." Antonio said. "If that's the case, who did they intend to kidnap and why?"
"First, we need to figure out who 'they' are." Nicole stated. While they were discussing the vision, Pollack walked into the bullpen.
"Scott. Mastriani. The parents have arrived. Go interview them."
"Yes, sir." Nicole replied as her and Jess left the room. They walked into the conference room where Matt and Madison Shields were waiting. "Hi. Matt and Madison Shields. I'm Special Agent Nicole Scott, and this is Special Agent Jess Mastriani. How are you?"
"I just don't understand. What happened?" Matt asked.
"We believe Katie may have been kidnapped." Nicole stated.
"Oh, my God. We heard she was just missing. Who would want to take Katie?" Madison questioned with worry and fear in her voice."
"That's exactly the question we want to ask you." Jess said. "Is there anyone you can think of with a grudge against either of you?"
"No, no one we can think of." Matt answered after a brief pause with an agreeable nod from his wife.
Nicole and Jess continued to interview Katie's parents. During the interview, Antonio walked up to the door. "Nicole."
Nicole got up from the table and walked over to Antonio. "Yes, Antonio."
"We've got a lead that may definitely point to kidnapping. One of the neighbors remembers seeing a black SUV with D.C. license plates circling the neighborhood around 9:30 pm last night. They didn't get a good look at the make and model."
"Did they get a look at the driver?"
"No, it was dark, and the windows were tinted."
"Did they get the plate numbers?"
"Not exactly. They got a partial. I'm running the number combinations now."
"Okay, thanks Antonio." Nicole walked back over to Jess and Katie's parents. "Mr. and Mrs. Shields, thank you for your help. You can go home now to be with your parents. We'll contact you if we have any other questions or if we come up with anything."
Matt and Madison stood up in preparation to leave. "Find our daughter, Agent Scott." Madison requested looking directly at Nicole.
"We will." Nicole answered, and Matt and Madison headed towards the elevator. Nicole and Jess watched as Matt and Madison stepped onto the elevator.
"Can you imagine what they must be going through?" Jess asked.
"Probably the same thing any other parent would go through if their kid was missing."
"Yeah, but on some level, maybe there's some guilt because they travel so much. It seems Katie spent more time with her grandparents than her parents. I wonder how much time her parents actually spend with her."
"Well, they may not feel guilt. They probably believe they're doing what they can to give their daughter what she needs. You can tell they love her. Besides, Katie has loving grandparents who are willing to help take care of her when her parents are away.
"Yeah, you're right, Nick." Jess said.
Nicole turned towards Jess. "Okay, Jess. Antonio found a lead. A black SUV was spotted in the neighborhood last night, and a neighbor has a partial plate number. Antonio's running the partials now." Nicole filled Jess in as they walked towards Antonio's desk.
"Okay." Jess replied. "Any progress?" She asked Antonio once they reached his desk.
"Yeah. I have four black SUV's with the partials seen by the neighbor on them. SUV #1, a Ford Explorer, belonging to a Sarah Price is in a police impound here in D.C. and has been for about four weeks. SUV #2, a Toyota Highlander, belonging to a Jason Walker was totaled in a car accident three days ago and has been in a D.C. junkyard since. SUV #3, a Yukon Denali, belongs to Michael Roberts, a bar owner in downtown Philadelphia, and SUV #4, a Lincoln Navigator, belongs to Gondine Enterprises."
"Gondine Enterprises? Isn't that the company Matt Shields works for?" Jess asked.
"Yeah, it is."
"You think it's a coincidence?" Jess asked.
"Unlikely." Nicole replied. "But let's go interview Roberts. Antonio, find out who had the Gondine Lincoln Navigator."
Antonio nodded as Jess and Nicole left the office.
"Michael Roberts?" Jess asked as her and Nicole walked into the Shady Tavern bar.
"That's me." A tall, blond man answered as he turned to face the agents.
"FBI. I'm Agent Mastriani, and this is Agent Scott. Is that your black SUV parked outside?"
"Yeah, I'm not parked illegally or anything."
"No, it's not about anything like that." Jess replied.
"Where were you at 10:00 pm last night?" Nicole asked.
"I was here at my bar."
"You have any witnesses?"
"How about the entire bar. I was up on stage MCing. It was karaoke night. What is this about?"
"Last night, a little girl was kidnapped. We have eyewitnesses describing your SUV and license plates driving through the neighborhood she was taken from around the time of the kidnapping." Nicole replied.
"Well, it wasn't me. There are plenty of black SUVs in this town. Like I said, I was here last night."
"Mr. Roberts, do you know a Matt or Madison Shields?"
"No, never heard of them. Why?"
"Do you know any of the people in this picture?" Nicole asked showing Roberts a picture of the Shields family.
"No, never seen any of them before." Roberts responded after glancing at the picture.
After spending a few more moments talking to Roberts, Jess and Nicole felt they had enough information for the moment. "Okay, Mr. Roberts. Thank you for your cooperation. We'll keep in touch." Jess said, as her and Nicole left the bar.
As Nicole and Jess were getting into Nicole's car, her cell phone rang. "Scott."
"Nicole, it's Antonio."
"Hey, what's up?"
"Well, it seems an employee by the name of James Druis was temporarily assigned the Lincoln Navigator a few weeks ago. It was supposed to be returned to the company last week, but there's no record of Druis returning the car back to the company lot."
"Thanks, Antonio. Jess and I will head over to Gondine Enterprises to interview James Druis. We've finished interviewing Michael Roberts. He claims to have no knowledge of the Shields family, and said that he was at his bar last night. I need you to track down any patrons from last night to verify his alibi." Nicole replied.
"You got it. I'll let you know what I come up with." Antonio said before ending the call.
As Nicole and Jess drove to Gondine Enterprises, Antonio called back letting Nicole know that Roberts' alibi checked out. He tracked down and contacted many of Shady Tavern's patrons and employees from the previous night, and the majority of them remember Michael Roberts MCing most of the night. The lead was now focused on James Druis.
A little while later, Nicole and Jess walked into Gondine Enterprises. They were directed to the office of James Druis.
"Agent Scott. Agent Mastriani." Druis said as he walked out of his office. "My secretary notified me of your visit. How can I help you?"
"We'd like to ask you a few questions about a kidnapping." Jess said.
"Right this way." Druis said as he ushered Nicole and Jess into his office.
"Mr. Druis, where were you last night at 10:00?"
"I was here at the office. I was working late."
"Is there anyone who can verify this?"
"Yeah, around that time I was on the telephone with a colleague, Shane Wilson."
"Does Mr. Wilson work here at Gondine?"
"No, he works for one of Gondine's business associates. We're working on a business deal."
"Mr. Druis, a few weeks ago, you were temporarily assigned a company car; a black Lincoln Navigator." Nicole asked.
"Yes, I was. I was in a little accident in my personal vehicle, so I borrowed a company car until mine was repaired last week."
"When did you return the Navigator? There's no record of you returning it to the company."
"Well, I returned it last weekend when things were a little hectic so the paperwork must have gotten lost. I'm sure the paperwork will turn up in the next couple of days when things settle down. As I said, the company is in the middle of a huge business deal."
"Right." Nicole responded with little belief. "Mr. Druis, what's your relationship like with Matt Shields? You work with him, don't you?"
"Matt? Yeah, I work with him. He's a great guy. He's a very intelligent man, and he's good at what he does. He's the company's travel engineer. He travels a whole lot more than I do. Why are you asking me about him?"
"His daughter, Katie, was kidnapped." Jess replied.
"Oh, I didn't know." Druis stated.
"Do you know of anyone that might have a grudge against Mr. Shields or his family?"
"No. No one. He's a very generous person. Everyone who knows him likes him."
They continued to interview Druis a little while longer. After gaining a little more information from him, they felt it was sufficient for the moment.
"Well, thank you for your time, Mr. Druis." Nicole said as she stood up and shook Druis' hand.
"Please let me know if there's anything that I can do to help." Druis said as he shook Jess' hand.
"Thank you." Jess said. Both Jess and Nicole turned to leave to return to the office.